Close The Door
by Ashrel Fury
Summary: In the throws of ones life there is two things we look for above all else. Love and Understanding. We are only human after all. Draco plays the piano in the room of requirements and awaits for the day he will find it. Maybe a Gryffindor can help?
1. Chapter 1

_**Close The Door**_

_**Two Shot: Drarry**_

Draco didn't even bother to stop his fingers as they easily flew over the keys on the grand piano stashed away in the Room of Requirements. He just allowed himself a glance at the opening door and relaxed after the hint of red and gold. The person who had entered wouldn't interrupt him.

It's been nearly four months since the first time this stranger had strayed into the secret room Draco kept for himself. Nearly four months that Draco had been sharing a part of himself with this Gryffindor boy who couldn't seem to leave him alone. He'd always wondered why the other boy would always come back, almost every night to listen as Draco poured his heart out over the piano, but he never dared ask. Any words that were ever exchanged weren't deep or even friendly. Yet both parties would always return night after night to sit and listen to the music.

Draco's eyes remained closed as he played faster; reaching the tense and fearful part of this melody he had composed himself. This was his favorite part to play, and that is why he waited for the other boy to walk into the room before he allowed himself to reach it.

Words were one thing they could not use, but his music was something different. Maybe if Draco tried hard enough, the Gryffindor would begin to understand. But maybe that was too much to hope for. No one could understand what he had to go through every day. Well, no one but one person.

"You should tell him you know..."

The voice of the boy made Draco stop dead in his tracks and his eyes pop open. His fingers paused and the music came to a dramatic and sudden halt. The silence was almost deafening and it scared Draco more so than the words had.

He turned on his piano bench and glared daggers at the boy who'd found out his deepest darkest secret.

"It is none of your business, Longbottom." Draco hissed in controlled anger. He didn't know for how much longer he'd be able to control it though. The Gryffindor wasn't supposed to speak, especially not of _him_.

Neville's eyes remained hard set on the blond's expression, the boy looked so determined that Draco actually faltered. Never had Neville possessed that look before. As if nothing could stop him from getting what he wanted.

"I've been coming here for months now, nearly every day." Neville started to speak quietly, but he cleared his throat and his voice rose a bit. "I've heard every song you've played since the first night I found you here crying-"

"I was not crying you insufferable lard of useless magic!"

"-Crying!" Neville almost screamed to drown out what ever insult Draco had come up with. "About the very loneliness I've been-"

"I am in no way _lonely_!"

Neville glared, his own anger flaring up to meet the young Malfoy's. He'd been gathering up his courage for three months now, just waiting for his chance to actually talk to this stubborn blond, and he was not about to leave this room without accomplishing just that!

"Shut up! You will listen to what I have to say!" Neville was yelling and he could tell that it shocked Malfoy to the core he knew it wasn't like him, even he was surprising himself but still, this had to be done. No, Neville wasn't one to lose his temper, in fact, he never believed he had this kind of feeling inside his body. There was that time in the Ministry of Magic where he tried his hardest to protect his friends against the Death Eaters, but this was a new emotion he didn't understand.

For so long he had kept this secret from the people he cared for. He's thought about nothing but Malfoy for four full months, not merely because he had seen the young pure blood at his worst, but because he also knew how it felt. To be all alone, consoling yourself, with no one but yourself to look to for support, Neville has been there and he had seen Malfoy there too. This is why he could not leave Malfoy alone. It was why he came back every night. Why he paid attention to the Slytherin so much so that he figured out about his unrequited love for one of Neville's own house mates.

Neville took a deep breath and shook his head. "Draco, don't you get tired of this..."

The blond scowled venomously his eyes silently warning the Gryffindor that to continue this conversation would result in blood, but Neville wouldn't get the hint. "I know you don't want to be this person. You don't want to be alone, mean, bitter-"

"I am no such thing and it will be in your best interest to remove yourself from my presence before I do something the two of us will both regret."

Draco was pissed. Beyond angry and past the point of no return. How dare this useless Gryffindor speak as if he knew anything at all. Just because he has sat here listening to Draco play a damned piano, he was suddenly an expert on Draco's life? Who did this boy think he was anyways, getting mixed up in affairs that had no connection to his own?

But Neville refused to back down. He needed to remind himself that he was not doing this for Draco, he was doing it for Harry.

"He's tired too, you know..." Neville stated with a frown, eye brows knitted and hoping to god that the youngest Malfoy would just listen to his words. Maybe it was too much to hope for, but this needed to be said. Malfoy wasn't the only one being hurt by uncontrollable situations, and Neville had an idea of how much better things would be if Malfoy just admitted that.

"He's tired of being the center of attention." Draco snorted but didn't interrupt. "He's tired of all the pressure everyone constantly puts on him. Did you know he's been watching you a lot. All year in fact. Did you know that? Ron and Hermione think he's obsessed, and he thinks it's because you've got something to hide, but I can see it. Just like I saw it in you. I can see how much he care-"

"He feels _nothing_ for me!" Draco grabbed the sheet music from the piano's stand and tried to throw it at Neville, to quite him. This could not be said, nothing could change, he had something he needed to do, something he needed to accomplish and even if it would pull him further and further away from his humanity, he needed to protect the people he loved. All of them. Including Potter…

"Yes he does!" Neville insisted as he reached forward and grabbed Draco by the shoulders. He really didn't see it coming and that was why Draco's fist actually took him by surprise.

He was knocked back and Draco was given enough room to escape. Draco rushed for the door and pulled it open, but Neville's voice followed him out. "You can't do it alone Draco!"

No...he couldn't. He already knew that. But he would do whatever it took for his loved ones. Even if it cost him his life.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

"That's a pretty nasty shiner there Neville, are you sure it was only a door?" Ron's voice was suspicious, but Neville just smiled it off as he sat across from the Golden Trio. He hadn't spoken to Draco in weeks now, the blond had even taken to avoiding the Room. He didn't know what to do to reach Malfoy anymore. But still.

His eyes fell on Harry's form, well actually, on the back of his head as he was turned around staring straight at one particular attraction sitting at the Slytherin table.

Neville sighed. Two people who were never meant to feel anything but animosity for each other have been reduced to this...and he was the only one who knew. He was the only one who could do anything about it. This was too much for Neville...

"Harry! Would you stop! At least get something to eat before you start your stalking fest." Hermione chastised the green eyed savior who had the humility to blush at her accusation.

"I'm not stalking." He sulked, but even he knew the truth. "He's up to something 'Mione."

Ron looked at his best friend with an odd expression. "Mate, though I happen to agree with that statement, I don't believe stalking him is going to do any good. Maybe we just need to wait for him to slip up."

Neville sighed as the two friends tried to get Harry to look away from the Slytherin table. Harry was reading his own emotions all wrong. The obsession wasn't just suspicion, though Neville actually couldn't deny that it might be a big part, it wasn't all of it.

Harry was fond of the blond. Neville could see it in the way Harry always looked at Draco. It was the exact same way Draco always looked at Harry. Draco had accepted it for what it was though, while Harry had a harder time admitting anything of the sort could happen.

The two had more in common than they would ever know, and maybe that was why they attracted each other. It was so frustrating to watch.

"I've got to get some last minute studying done for the quiz in Potions, so I'm heading for the library. See you guys in class." Neville excused himself and stood up, as he left he felt a pair of eyes staring at his back and he knew in an instant who it was.

Draco would be at the Room tonight.

Suddenly an idea struck Neville, a way for Harry to _notice._

~!~!~!~!~!~!~

"You want me to..what?"

Neville sighed heavily as he glared at Harry's confused face. He'd been trying to explain what he wanted Harry to do for an hour now without giving away too much about where they were going.

"You think Malfoy's up to something right? Then come with me, I know where he is." Neville tried again, playing at the other boy's weaknesses. In an instant Harry's eyes burned to life. It was so comical, how much he reacted just to the blond's very name. How could Harry not notice his own feelings? No matter, soon he would. He just had to see Malfoy vulnerable. Then he would begin to notice what the attention he showed Draco truly was.

"What? Where is he? What is he doing this late at night? How do you know where he-"

Neville threw his hand over Harry's mouth when the savior's voice started to rise above a whisper. They were in the Gryffindor dorms and if Ron awoke, his plan was all for not.

"Just come with me. Bring your cloak and stay behind me, don't talk when you see him and don't make a sound. I want to show you what I discovered about Malfoy."

Harry's eyes narrowed and Neville could see the jealousy in there, but Harry probably just read it as suspicion. "What do you know about him Neville?"

Neville sighed again and started to get off of Harry's bed, deciding to leave it up to the Gryffindor Golden Boy if he followed or not. "It's up to you Harry. But if you do come, just follow the rules okay? If we wanna catch him, we need to be sneaky."

Then he walked out of the room, not surprised when he heard footsteps following behind him. He chanced a glance back and saw that there was no Harry to the footsteps. Good he was under his cloak already, all the better.

The walk to the Room of Requirements wasn't so far from the Gryffindor tower as some might think. The room was in the top floors, and so they merely went up one stair case to reach the floor they needed. As they walked Harry remained quiet, and probably questioning where they were and why Malfoy would come all the way up here from the dungeons to accomplish whatever it was he was scheming. Thinking this, Neville almost laughed. Almost.

He reached the room in no time, already taking notice of the door. Draco was in there already. He pulled the door open and turned around while putting his finger up to his lips to signal Harry to be very quiet. The second the door was pulled open, the tones of a piano were clear and loud, Malfoy must have missed his nightly releases because the emotion in the melody was almost violently depressing. He heard Harry gasp and turned sharply to signal for silence again before walking in, allowing Harry enough space and time to slip in himself. Then he closed the door and walked further into the room.

It looked just like it always had, a plain room with one comfortable arm chair, one grand piano and one burning fireplace. Neville noticed that Draco hadn't even bothered to open his eyes to check who it was this time, just kept playing, not letting up.

Things remained like this for twenty more minutes before the melody actually began to slow. His fingers must have been tired.

"I didn't think you'd come." Draco said so quietly that Neville almost missed it.

"I didn't think you would either. You haven't been for almost a month now." Neville answered as he took his usual seat in the arm chair. He didn't know where Harry was, but it was probably in a corner looking at the whole room.

"Yeah." Was Malfoy's only answer as he finished the melody.

Once it was over, he turned around in his piano bench to stare hard at Neville. "You came though. Every night."

Neville shrugged. "I figured it was my fault for bringing up unpleasant things last time." This answer actually got a smirk out of Malfoy before it disappeared just as quickly.

"I may have over reacted." Malfoy admitted with a tilt of his head. "I've had a bit of time to think."

Neville raised an eye brow at that. He hadn't been expecting this. They never spoke like this. The only time they shared more than two sentences was during their last encounter, when Neville finally got fed up with watching both him and Harry destroy themselves over the other. "About what Draco?"

Malfoy's eyes suddenly got very guarded, something that made Neville feel a bit jumpy, but just as quickly as it went up, the wall was down again. Draco's face wasn't blank, his expression wasn't unreadable, and his eyes weren't empty. Neville could see it clearer than ever before. The hurt, the stress, the helplessness.

"About _him_." Draco answered with a small wince. "I can't, I don't know how to approach him. I don't know how to ask for his help, I don't know what to do, but you might. You're always with him, always allowed to be near him. You have something I have always wanted and if I am to protect my family, myself, and him, I need your help."

Neville was shocked. This was not supposed to be happening tonight, Harry was in the room tonight, this was not good.

"Draco, we can talk about it another-"

"There won't be another time." Draco sighed as he allowed himself to sag. He'd never sat like this in front of Neville before, but for the first time the Gryffindor was able to see Draco utterly deflated. "If I can't get you to help me talk to Harry, then I am taking my family, and running away. As far away as I can. Neville, no matter what, I have no trust for Dumbledore, but I don't want the old man dead. Neither do I want to be the one to do it."

Neville gasped at hearing this, and so did Harry.

"That was your mission!? You have to kill Dumbledore?"

Draco winced again and looked down, his blond bangs hiding his face, still he bobbed his head in a nod. Neville was floored. Why? Why did Draco decide to talk about all this tonight!? He should have come alone. Harry shouldn't be hearing all this.

"I don't want to do that to him. Harry would break if Dumbledore...I just can't do it by myself. I don't want to be a murderer, I don't want to kill or torture. I...I don't want to be a Death Eater."

Neville looked around the room for any sign of Harry, but everything looked undisturbed. Harry was listening to all of this, silently. That was actually surprising. Neville had believed that Harry would be livid at all of this information, he thought the boy would be shouting that Draco was a liar or something along those lines. Maybe it was just the shock, Neville sort of felt it too.

"How am I supposed to help you Draco?" Neville finally spoke after a few minutes of silence. When he said this, Draco's head came up and he stared deep and piercing into Neville's own eyes.

"I don't know." Draco admitted. "I don't know if there is anything you can do. I don't know if there is anything you would be willing to do. The person I need, the one who can help me is Harry." Draco snorted at his own comment. "But I doubt he would even speak to me. I am nothing but a – how did Granger put it? 'foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach'." Draco actually chuckled at himself.

Neville frowned, Hermione had said something like that? Really? "Maybe you aren't giving Harry credit, if you asked him I'm sure he would talk to you."

Draco snorted again as if he found it funny. "He might be willing to talk to me, but what in the world would make him believe in anything I say? Certainly not this!" He pulled up his sleeve and bared his left forearm. Neville recoiled at the Dark mark that burned on Draco's skin like fire. Draco looked at his own arm and smiled bitterly. "So proud father was of me, his little boy crying and begging the Dark Lord not to do it. He showed me just how proud he was when he got home that night. I had never felt pain like that before in my life. Still..."

Draco breathed deep and Neville let him have that moment. This was it, all of the feelings inside his melodies, this is where they all came from. "Still, I don't want him to die. Not him, not mother...not anyone. Especially not because of me."

Neville scowled. "He beat you! He tortured you, that is no father!"

Draco's head rose and he glared hard at Neville. "He is my father. No matter how imperfect, he gave me life and raised me."

"He's a Death Eater!" Neville insisted.

"So am I!" Draco cried back.

"No you're not!"

The very air seemed to still as a voice that wasn't Neville's or Draco's echoed within the room like the sound of a ringing bell. Draco was up in seconds, his wand out and pointed at Neville.

"Who's here?!" He hissed as his face twisted in pure anger and betrayal. Neville's hands rose into the air and he cursed under his breath, just as he heard Harry curse too.

"Malfoy don't." Neville said but Draco shot a stunner his way only to be absorbed by a shield charm.

"Who did you bring!?" Draco cried again, shooting another curse that was blocked.

"Malfoy!" Harry appeared in front of Neville and blocked another curse. "Stop!"

Draco's eyes widen, his face going pale as the new fallen snow. It couldn't be. He'd heard it all, every part of it he-

Draco turned on his heel and went for the door, but Harry was fast, tackling the blond onto the ground like a football player. "Malfoy!"

"Get off! Let go of me you filthy mudblood!" Draco thrashed as hard as he could, he threw punches at any part of Harry he could reach, but the other boy would not let go.

"Stupify!" Neville's curse hit Harry in the back and Neville cursed as he'd gotten the wrong target, Draco struggled to push the still Harry off of him but once he was free another curse flew his way, Neville easily put him to sleep.

Lifting the curse he'd accidentally hit Harry with, Neville winced when Harry glared.

"Get a better aim Neville, or people are just going to end up dying." Harry hissed before turned to look at the sleeping Draco. "Was all the things he said..." Harry paused. "Was all of it for real?"

Neville chanced a stare at Draco and nodded silently. "He came to this room every night and one night, the night you and Ron had that fight about him and kicked everyone out of the dorm, that was the night I was headed to the Astronomy tower, but...I heard the music."

"That had been more than five months ago Neville, how long have you kept this secret?" Harry seemed curious, and just that. He wasn't angry or doubtful, he was merely curious.

"It's been a bit longer than that. He's not a bad guy you know, he wants everyone to believe it because that is what is expected of him. Even you expected the worse Harry."

Harry sighed at Neville's words, his friend was right. He had come here hoping to catch Malfoy...no, Draco, doing something evil. He had been here to prove he wasn't just stalking the other. Maybe he was though, because even though Draco admitted his connection to Voldemort, even went as far as to show his Dark Mark...Harry believed what the Slytherin had cried out with so much emotion that even Harry's eyes had watered up. 'I don't want to be a Death Eater.'...Harry could relate, he didn't want to be the world's savior.

Neither of them had much of a choice he supposed.

"He's been carrying those burdens all his life, just like me. Expected to be what everybody wants you to be no matter what you want for yourself. He's lived just like me...probably worse."

Neville gave a sigh of relief as he listened to Harry. So his friend had seen it, he'd actually listened closely to every word Malfoy had said in his rant. He'd been listening closely and open-mindedly. Neville couldn't ask for anything more than that.

"He's been under his father's thumb all his life. I don't know how he could still think of that awful man as family." Neville shuddered and shook his head but Harry just breathed in deeply, moving Draco to lay on his back and then ran his fingers through the silver blond strands he'd always found himself wanting to brush behind the Slytherin's ear.

"Family." Harry whispered. "I know what he feels. I get so much pride when I hear someone tell me how proud my parents would be of me. He wants the same feeling, has probably craved it all his life, but to get his parents approval, he has to do bad things. Things he himself doesn't want to do. How did he withhold so much inside without any form of release?"

"He had a release."

Harry and Neville jumped at the voice that came from the door. Pansy stood there with a sad frown on her face. "He had a release. It was that piano over there." She pointed to the grand piano just off to the side, walking into the room to stand beside Harry watching Malfoy as he slept, under the affects of Neville's curse. "That piano is the same one that his mother used to play to him when he was a child. I'll bet this room made it for him so that he could escape."

"What do you know about this Parkinson?" Harry asked as he looked up. For the first time Pansy saw nothing but honesty and curiosity in Potter's green eyes and she sighed. Draco had done it, he'd gained the Savior's trust. Lucky bastard.

"All of us are the same. In Slytherin, we protect each other, support each other. We always have from the very beginning, but Draco...he was always the one people looked to. His father is You-Know-Who's right hand man, if anyone had any power within Slytherin, it was Draco. And he wore it so well, protecting younger years and upholding everything Slytherin stood for. This year he even stopped relying on me and Blaise."

"What do you mean he stopped?" Harry asked as the Slytherin girl crouched down to look longingly at Draco's face, not daring to touch it.

"I've known about this room long before he had. In fact I told him about it." Pansy smiled a bit. "He left the door wide open one day when he was playing, the day you found him." Pansy's face turned up to look at Neville. "You didn't even notice I was in the room sitting in the arm chair because you were so focused on Draco. After he met eyes with you, you just ran away." She laughed under her breath as Neville flushed. "I stopped coming up here that day you knew, because I figured if anyone could help him approach the one he wanted to, it was you. I couldn't help him. He was always the one helping me." Pansy's hand reached for Draco's hair but Harry found himself catching her hand before she touched the sleeping blond.

Pansy just looked blankly up at Harry's face as the Gryffindor noticed what he had done. Blushing he let her hand go, but she didn't try again. "He looked at you like you could rescue him. Like you were his light in the darkness. Did you know that Potter?"

"Why are you here Pansy?" Harry asked changing the topic of conversation. He wasn't very comfortable with the current one.

Pansy just sighed. "I heard you and Longbottom talking when I'd been making my way back downstairs. Draco asked me to come tonight, said he was going to do it, he was going to expose the truth and depending on how things went with Longbottom he would stay and fight or run as far away as his family's money would get him." She sat down on the stone floor, drawing her knees to her chest as she looked over Draco, Harry taking a seat as well. "He wanted me to come with him. Me, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle, but I can't leave my family behind, they need me. When I left the room, he started playing and I heard you two coming up the stairs. Two Gryffindors versus one Slytherin sounded a bit unfair to me, wouldn't you say so too Potter?" She laughed as Harry's face turned even redder.

"I kept telling him to close the door, but he never did. That day Neville found us, I think he was hoping it would have been you." Pansy said with a sad smile. "He wanted to be saved."

"I can't save him. I don't know if I can save anyone." Harry answered as he lowered his head, Pansy just shook hers.

"That's not what I meant. Draco is strong enough to protect himself Potter, he isn't a coward."

"Then what did you mean Parkinson?" Neville asked.

Pansy gazed down at Draco and sighed. "I figured one day he'd fall in love with me. We are engaged after all, his father didn't want any contamination in the family line. He never did though, and I only figured out why after you came into this room that night Longbottom."

"That doesn't answer his question Parkinson." Harry hissed. Pansy just smirked back.

"It's not my secret to tell Potter. I think you know yourself what he wanted from you that he never got from anyone else, not even his parents. The question is if you can give it to him. He'd let go of everything in one second and fight beside you no matter the risks if you gave him just one simple thing."

Neville's eyes widened and he understood. "Love." He whispered and Harry rounded to him.

"What the hell are you talking about, why would Malfoy want me to give him love?" Harry cried as he looked between Neville and Pansy.

Pansy continued to smirk. "He's watch you a lot over the years. Just like you are watching him now. With that sparkle in your eyes. You know, I may be a Slytherin, but I'm just as human as the rest of the world. So is Draco. We've all been after just a few things in our lives. Love and understanding."

"You're not acting very Slytherin now Parkinson." Harry growled as he shook off the thought. There was no way he could-

"The house you're in doesn't define you Potter." Pansy sighed as she stared at him like he was stupid. "It gives you a chance to stick close to people, who are more than a bit like you, but it doesn't define who you are, and it certainly doesn't make you inhuman."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Harry asked as his eyes came down to look at Draco's face, pale and twisted in throws of a nightmare.

"Treat him like a human being. Treat all of us like humans. The second you close the door on the possibility that we might just get along, then that door will never be opened again." Pansy sneered, her face twisting up in an ugly way. "I figured this night would end badly, but maybe it has put some sort of sense into your brain. Something that took Longbottom here months to uncover."

Neville blushed. "Hey!"

Pansy sent him a sweet smile and looked into Harry's eyes.

"We're all human. Even that nasty snake man who's been trying to kill you. He was human once and someone took that away from him. Maybe you should look at who the real dark lord is before that same man creates another one." She took out her wand and cast a curse on Draco who was lifted into the air. "I'll take him to his rooms, as a Perfect, it wouldn't do for either me or him to be caught out here after hours."

As the two Slytherin's left Harry looked down at his hands. What did the girl mean by that.

"Harry if you're going to just sit there, at least close the door, anyone can walk in if the door is-"

Harry's eyes snapped up to meet Neville's and the shy Gryffindor stepped back as a light bulb seemed to go off. "Say that again?"

"If you're going to-"

"No further than that."

"At least close the door?"

"And?"

"Anyone can walk in if the door is-"

"Open"

* * *

A/N: Well I left you lot with a bit of a cliff hanger now haven't I? lol I don't know if this is the end, that will depend on reviews. So if you like it and want me to go on, you better write a review, because I for one am satisfied with this story as it is.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Close The Door  
Two Shot: Drarry (Part Two)**_

His eyes snapped open and he violently sat up, looking around himself in a fury of panic and fear. He recognized the room he was in and allowed himself to relaxed, actually he had to force himself to relax. Longbottom. That little piece of human filth had betrayed him, had brought another to his place, his haven. And not just anyone, he had brought Harry Potter.

Harry saw it, his Dark Mart. Harry heard it, his weaknesses. How utterly humiliating.

Burring his face in his hands Draco sat in the silence, hating it with every fiber of his being.

"You went there tonight didn't you?"

Draco's eyes popped open and he looked at the bed across from him, one of his best friends Blaise stood next to his bed and Draco frowned. He hadn't even heard the boy come close.

"Yes." The blond replied shortly.

"Pansy told me what happened." Blaise offered emotionlessly. Draco's eyes widened. Now he understood why he was at his dorms when Longbottom had cursed him in the Room of Requirements.

"And what, per say, did she tell you Zanbini." It was growled out but he couldn't help it. He'd been betrayed by someone who knew. Probably everything. Blaise sat down at the edge of his bed and a childish part of Draco wanted to use his powerful legs to push the other boy off, but Draco held it in. He was not a child.

"She told me Longbottom brought Potter to the room and you spilled your guts to both of them." Blaise said simply with a slight smirk. This made Draco retreat back to his hands with a long groan of mortification. He was doomed now, Harry (_Potter you idiot! Potter)_ Knew of everything.

"She said there was a chance that Harry loves you back."

Draco's head snapped up again and he stared at his friend incredulously. "What in heaven's name would lead her to an assumption of this nature?!" Draco screeched in a very un-manly voice that finally made Blaise crack and honest smile.

"Said she tried to touch you when you were asleep and Potter grabbed her hand violently like he didn't want anyone but him to touch you." The smug voice told Draco that Blaise was enjoying the slight blush on his cheeks. The blond scowled.

"I will believe no such thing. What time is it?" He changed the subject sharply and Blaise snorted, casting a _Tempus_ with his wand.

"Five minutes until Breakfast, will you be coming down your royal highness?" Blaise teased with a smile. Draco couldn't help it, his friend's expression was too funny and he smiled a bit too.

"I guess I must. Get off my bed so I can get up you insufferable clown."

Blaise laughed good naturedly and stood. Draco realized his clothes had been transfigured into some pajamas so he wouldn't be uncomfortable. A thought was spared too Pansy. Truly she would have made a brilliant wife had Draco's heart not belonged to another. And that thought brought up more of the boy in question.

Harry. Draco remembered the night before with vivid clarity, telling Longbottom of his task, of his struggles, of his family. He had also been telling Harry, though unknowingly. That brought something else to the forefront of his mind. He remembered yelling at Neville "I'm a Death Eater!" And someone had denied it. That had to be Harry, no one else had been in the room.

What did that mean?

Draco was unsure if he could face Harry, but he also knew he had pretenses to keep up. His godfather would worry were he to start skipping meals, and he had done too much of that already to just be passed off down.

"Blaise told me you were up." Pansy's voice came from the door and Draco's silver eyes dragged themselves to her form, standing there as perfect and as poised as a Slytherin should be. "Do you remember what happened last night or would you like me to recount the tail?" She was smiling at this and Draco couldn't help rolling his eyes fondly. She had been his go to girl for the longest time.

"No Pans, I remember it already thank you. I believe it would be worse reliving my humiliation through your mouth." He wasn't really feeling humiliated though. He didn't know why. Normally being seen so vulnerable and weak would make him seethe with fury, but he wasn't. Strangely, he felt better than he had all year long. Even though his tasks still loomed in his mind. Maybe it had been Harry's "No you're not!" That had done this to him. He didn't feel as dark this morning, didn't feel as heavy.

"Do you really believe he could love me?" Draco asked quietly, not looking at the girl now sitting on his bed beside him. He missed her knowing smile.

"I believe he already is. He's just in need of a little self assessment." Draco snorted at her words and allowed himself to be a child, pushing her off the bed and laughing as her butt thumped on the hard unforgiving floor. Her squeak of outrage made it even funnier.

"Draco!"

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

Harry's eyes peeled themselves open unwillingly. Having gone to bed the night before with a lot on his mind, he hardly got sleep what so ever. That said, he was humming with a strange sort of excitement.

"Mate, wake up, you're going to be-" Ron stared at him strangely as he saw Harry was already awake and with a weird expression on his face. "Harry, why are you smiling like that?"

Smiling? Harry hadn't noticed he was smile. "What do you mean?"

Ron frowned and his brows knitted together in his well know thinking possession. He'd witnessed this pose at nearly every chess game they have ever had. "Mate you're grinning like you've just met your favorite Quidditch player."

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron's example but he finally noticed that he was, in fact, smiling.

"I don't know." He said shrugging, not able to get it off his face. Ron just shook his head, mumbling an "It's too early to deal with Harry's shenanigans." Before he left to shower. Harry had taken one last night so he skipped out, having the sudden urge to go downstairs and see Neville and then hopefully Draco.

"I'm heading down to breakfast." He said quickly as he slipped his pajamas off and his school robes on. Ron just grunted and continued to the bathroom.

Hermione met him at the common room, but she told him to go ahead and he'd wait for Ron. Before he left she told him: "Don't stalk Malfoy too much this morning, we have Potions first thing today." He blushed deeply at her words and continue to retreat out the Fat Lady's portrait.

He found Neville at the Gryffindor table, but when he turned his eyes to search through the faces in Slytherin, he failed to find Draco.

"Morning Harry." Neville yawned as Harry sat beside him. "Are you going to tell me about your great epiphany last night?"

After Harry had made Neville repeat his words he had run out of the room in a fury and left Neville there by himself staring at the open door in confusion.

Harry blushed a bit and scratched the back of his head. "I had this sort of plan." Harry said wistfully, still not elaborating. Neville stared at him until Harry couldn't take it and he looked away, just in take to see Draco burst through the Great Hall's doors with Pansy to one side and Blaise to the other. Silver eyes glanced at Harry before looking away and Pansy sent him a short very contorted smile as they walked to the Slytherin table, Harry's eyes following them all the way there.

Neville rolled his own and bumped Harry's shoulder finally regaining the raven's attention. Harry looked back at him with a confused face and Neville huffed. "Seriously, and to believe you never realized your obsession with him was affection."

Harry's eyes widen and he stared at Neville who glared back, then Harry looked over at Draco, taking in his soft blond hair and pouty pink lips and molten silver eyes and soft pale skin and - Holy shit. He was in love with Malfoy. (Draco…)

"Plan Harry?" Neville snorted in annoyance. "What was that plan?"

Harry shook himself out of it and sighed, storing the information of his feeling into the back of his mind. "You remember what you said last night?" Neville nodded.

"Anyone can walk in if the door is open." Neville repeated and Harry smiled.

"Exactly. Draco can't be the only Slytherin in this possession, under the pressure of his parents to join a cause he doesn't support. There have got to be others who don't want to fight at all, and that can give us more allies in which to rely on." Harry stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Neville stared at him, not knowing what to say.

"What do we have to do to get these Slytherin's on our side?" Harry asked with a smile and a raised eye-brow. Neville shook his head, gesturing that he didn't know.

"We give them a choice Neville." Harry looked over at Draco who was buttering toast, not looking in his direction at all. "Open the proverbial door for anyone who wants a chance."

Neville frowned. "What makes you think they would change sides just like that Harry. Basically everyone in this school has looked at them with shadowed eyes, why would they want to walk into a door that houses people who've hated them and leave their parents behind." Harry's face fell a bit and he looked at the Slytherin table, looking at every face individually until he reached Draco. Pansy's words echoed in his head.

"_He was always the one people looked to."_

"Draco." Harry answered. "They would follow Draco if they believed he was doing it for their best interest."

Neville nodded a bit before turning to Harry. "And are you doing this for their best interest?"

That, Harry couldn't answer, but he did know one thing. "I'm doing it for Draco's best interest." And he knew his words were true. Now if only he could find a way to talk to Draco.

"Morning Harry." Hermione smiled at him and he smiled tentatively back. This made her worry. "Are you feeling alright? You seemed so high spirited this morning."

Harry sighed. He'd entertained the idea of telling both Ron and Hermione about what he and Neville had seen last night, but he didn't think he could. This was Draco's secret, Draco's scars and he had no place spreading rumors.

"I'm okay. Just had a bad dream." He winced at the look of concern on her face. He regretted saying that the moment it was out.

"Is it _Him_ again? Was there a raid last night? Did you see him kill anyone? Oh Harry, you have to tell us these things." Harry wanted to scream at her. He didn't have to tell them anything, they don't understand, they have never been in the same room as Voldemort, much less in his head. They won't ever understand no matter how bad the things he tells them are, how truly terrifying it is.

Harry scowled a bit but let it go and Ron joined them. "It's nothing Mione, just a normal bad dream." And in some ways he wasn't lying. He'd dreamed about Draco from the very first moment they met while they were both being fitted for school robes, to the Draco he had seen the night before. He had marveled on how he had never noticed how broken the blond was and how amazing his mercury silver eyes looked when full of emotion.

"Hey mate, what's this about nightmares?" Ron's eyes mirrored Hermione's sympathy and that just brought a bitter taste to Harry's mouth. They would never truly sympathies with him and he didn't expect him to, never wanted them to, but he didn't want to be treated like someone without limbs or with a mental disorder. He was an orphan with no family, not a mental case in need of therapy. He would never tell them this though.

They were his friends, and above all Harry would always care for them, even if they would never understand him.

And that's when he got it. Pansy had said last night that there were only two things humans spend their life searching for. Love and understanding. He got it now.

With a new kind of light in his eye, Harry rose from the table, smiled at his friends, clasped Neville in the shoulder and left the Great Hall, not noticing the eyes that followed his exit dutifully.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

"He's leaving."

Draco took his eyes off Harry's retreating back to look at Pansy as she watched the Gryffindor go too. Her dark eyes turned to Draco looking pointedly at him. "Maybe you should follow?"

The first reaction of the blond was to snort and he did so right in her face, but then he thought about it better.

Last night he had bared his soul hadn't he. And while he wasn't aware that Harry was there, the raven did hear all of it. This could be the chance he'd been waiting for, the chance to talk to Harry and actually be heard. The chance to save himself and hopefully his family.

So with a nod at Pansy and a pat in the back from Blaise, he also rose. His eyes went to Neville who was staring at him and with a tight and small smile, he nodded once. In a way, Neville had done what he had asked. He had gotten him a chance to talk to Harry Potter.

Neville looked shocked but quickly nodded back which got Granger and Weasley's attention. They looked back and caught Draco leaving the Great Hall. Ron sneered at his back but to Draco's surprise Hermione smiled. He didn't give himself time to think about that one as he made his exit quickly and silently.

He didn't know where Harry would be, but he had a guess. If Harry wanted to talk to him, then he would go back to the place where Draco bared his soul. The Room of Requirements.

Sure enough, that is exactly where the blond Slytherin found him.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

"This is so freakin cool." Harry breathed as he looked around the room on wonder.

Neville had told him how to make the room appear last night after Harry got out of the shower, in case Harry wanted to talk to Malfoy without Neville there. It had been nice of him. Neville had known he would never be of any help to Malfoy or Harry after the raven had finally heard everything and understood everything. So he was going to let them at it.

Harry had walked up here right after leaving the Great Hall, up the stairs and pacing three times in from of the wall hiding the door to such an amazing room. In his mind he had pictured comfort, warmth, and love. Not exactly images, but he didn't have exact images. It wasn't all for not though, the room had given him exactly what he'd asked for.

It was small now, cozier than the plain room Draco had made the night before. The fire was lit in the harth, a soft, comfortable looking love seat was in front of it with a blanket over the back which confused Harry as the room was nowhere near cold, but as he turned to look at the window the room had conjured, he saw why the blanket was there.

Out the window was a raging snow storm, the moon just barely visible in the fury of snow. Harry realized that the room had even added his favorite climate to the soothing warm atmosphere to complete the picture perfectly. This made him smile to himself as he looked at the Slytherin green curtains with silver trim.

He had been thinking of Draco too.

"Remarkable Potter, I didn't think a Gryffindor like you had such taste."

The voice caught Harry by surprise and he rounded to face the very person from his thoughts. The blond stood smirking as if nothing of the previous night had accrued.

"Draco." Harry breathed feeling a tad light headed. What was this feeling, it had never happened before, but suddenly just looking at Draco makes him breathless. Does noticing your feelings change the way you react to a person?

Draco's face change the instant Harry had spoke his first name with no hesitation. It went from arrogant to broken all in one second and he looked like he was going to bolt again and in a way Harry understood. Up until this very moment, their meeting last night had not sunken in. This was so for Harry too as the feelings all assaulted him in one go, just like they were probably doing to Draco.

"Don't!" Harry called rushing forward as Draco took a step back to run. Harry caught the blond by the arm and they stared at each other. One had exposed his very soul the night before and in Draco's eyes he saw the fear. The fear of being turned away, of being outted and shamed for his weakness. Harry had to do something, something to make this equal, to make it so they were standing on even grounds, together.

"I'm afraid." The raven said in a rush, completely throwing the blond off.

"What?" Draco asked confused, his shame and realizations momentarily forgotten.

"I'm terrified of Voldemort, of what he's done to my family, of what he could do to everything else I care about. I'm scared and I don't feel like I'm enough. I'm not strong enough to beat this mad man who has lived longer than me, who can kill easier than I can. Between me and him, I never once believed I would live past our one final battle since the day I heard the prophecy about us."

Harry was speaking everything on his mind, speaking fast to keep Draco here, to make Draco understand. Turned out, this was Harry's smartest move.

Draco's shoulders relaxed, the scattered look in his eyes turning into a deep sadness and understanding that Hermione and Ron only ever tried to accomplish.

Harry's breath hitched at the picture of those eyes.

"What prophecy Harry?" Draco understood what the Gryffindor was trying to do. He wasn't stupid after all. The raven was putting them on equal footing. So that one was never more exposed than the other.

Harry sighed and looked down, suddenly not finding this as great an idea as it seemed.

Draco's features softened, but Harry was unable to see. With a soft, gentle hand Draco led Harry to the love seat and sat him down, sitting down himself before grabbing the raven's shoulder and softly leading him down so that his head was on Draco's lap.

He'd always wanted to do this to Harry. To touch the surprisingly soft unruly hair. So he did as he wanted, waiting for Harry to collect himself and talk.

Harry struggled with his thoughts. Was it so smart to tell Draco everything just like that? Maybe it wasn't, maybe Draco really was pretending to-

He looked up into the Silver eyes that waited patiently for him to be ready and something in his mind settled itself and he sighed deeply before opening his mouth to speak.

"The prophesy that originally led Voldemort to come after me a few month after I was born. It said that a child born at the end of the seventh month would have the power he knows not. It said that one cannot live while the other survives and one of us would have to kill the other."

Harry waited but Draco didn't speak, didn't make a sound at all as he continued to thread his fingers in Harry's hair. It felt so good that the raven relaxed into the blond's lap. Beginning to speak again.

"I don't want to be a killer. I've never wanted this. When I was sitting by myself in my cupboard under the stairs in my Aunt and Uncle's house, all I wished for was someone who cared about me, someone who loved me. I never asked for a war, never asked fo-"

"Wait." Draco spoke, his voice odd in Harry's ears. It was controlled and tight. "What was that? The part about a cupboard?"

Harry closed his eyes, feeling shame and hatred for himself. Why would he say that, he didn't want Draco to know about that.

"Harry." Just like it had to Draco, the use of his first name suddenly made Harry realize how real this was, how irrevocable stripping himself vulnerable in front of his sworn enemy was. Suddenly _he _wanted to bolt, but again he looked at Draco's eyes. Calm reassurance. Understanding. Deep and soul retching understanding that only two broken people could share. Tears sprang to Harry's eyes.

"My parents died because of the prophecy, and Dumbledore left me with my mother's sister. She…Draco she resented my very existence. Her and her lard of a husband, they hated magic with every fiber of their being. I was put in the cupboard, I was punished, I was made to do chores. Draco, I was five years old standing on a chair burning myself to make them breakfast, lunch, dinner. I was eight trying to mow the lawn though I barely reached the handle of the mower. I was short, I was small, I wasn't fed or…or loved. I was alone and so hurt. Their son he shared their views and he used to beat me so bad I couldn't walk and I got it worse when I couldn't do the house work because of my injuries. I was locked for days on end, I couldn't have friends, couldn't go out because I was a freak. I didn't belong in the world."

He was crying he knew he was but he closed his eyes and threw his arm over them so he wouldn't have to see Draco's reaction. He wouldn't handle it if he saw the same sympathy that lived in Ron and Hermione's faces when they looked at him. They didn't know the pain, their parents loved them and were alive, they would never know the pain.

Harry was startled when he felt a wetness that wasn't his hit his cheek and his eyes opened on their own facing a twisted face of Draco over him, struggling to hold back his tears.

"Draco?" Harry asked confused and still raw from his truth telling session.

"Those…bastads."

The voice Harry heard wasn't Draco's. It was growled out in venom so acid that Harry almost recoiled, had there not been tears falling from Draco's twisted face.

"Draco…"Harry said softer and rose from the blond's lap to place a hand on the back of his neck, wiping at his own tears. "Draco, it's okay."

"No its not!" Draco roared and turned furious eyes at Harry who backed up a bit. "Those…heartless-" he couldn't even speak in his rage and Harry was floored by such a violent reaction. "A child. You were- Five year old and they-" Draco was having trouble breathing now and Harry was getting worried.

"Draco please, calm down. Draco it's okay I-"

"Don't you dare!" Draco screamed and startled the shit out of Harry. "Don't you dare stick up for them! That's why you were so shy when we first met right? Why you were so small and dirty, it wasn't you it was them! And I…damnit! I wanted to befriend you the very second I saw you but everything I said just made you pull away and I was so…so mad when you chose Weasley over – not even my parents, not even dark wizards like them would ever – a child Harry! You were a child!"

Harry was slowly piecing things together as Draco spoke harshly through clenched teeth struggling not to sob as the tears fell fast.

"I was always nothing but an heir, but I was treated better than a house elf! My mother never cared much for me but she did…" His fury was slowly drowning in the sheer sadness that collected in Draco heart at hearing and seeing Harry speak.

The loneliness that had been in Harry's voice had been in Draco's heart for so long and it was all just…overflowing.

Harry was catching on to this as he slowly wrapped his arms around Draco's shuddering body. Oh god he loved this teen…

No one had ever reacted like Draco. Hermione when she found out had hugged him and told him that nothing like that will ever happen again, Ron had sat beside him and pat his back telling him he had a family with the Weasleys and Harry had believed them both for the most part, but no one had gotten so outraged on his behalf. Only Sirius but Sirius was…

Tears sprang to his eyes again but he held it back with all his strength just as he held Draco. This blond Slytherin was crying for him. For his pain, for his sake. Even though he was currently expected to kill and carrying the mark of a madman on his arm, this silver eyed boy was crying for _his_ pain.

"Shh Draco." He whispered soothingly, running his fingers through Draco's hair this time. "I've got more to tell if you want to listen."

Draco nodded his head, allowing it when Harry straightened him up and laid his head on the blond's again. He pet at Harry's hair and listened once again quiet.

And Harry talked. His connection to Voldemort, his hate and fear for the man. His thoughts about his inevitable end, his thoughts and feelings when his godfather died, his disappointment at his friends because they didn't understand and his guilt because he knew it wasn't their fault. He bared his soul even deeper than Draco had and it felt so very good to have someone to listen and to cry for him that he couldn't stop himself from just talking.

And Draco listened until the very end.

By the time Harry had finished, classes had ended and dinner had already begun, but instead of leaving, Harry sat up and then pulled Draco down, silently telling him it was his turn and Draco took it.

He spoke about how he was treated at home. How much he wished that his parents actually loved him because he was him and not their heir, about how much he hated the Dark Lord, but how much he agreed with some of his ideas. He explained how the wizarding world was old and noble and how the muggleborns were attempting to change their society and how that would hurt them in the end. Harry listened without judging as Draco told him he wanted to fix their world but not like this with violence and hate.

By the time Draco's turn ended it was well into the night and the two still refused to leave. Instead they asked for a bed from the room of requirements and it appeared for them. Harry also asked for food and that appeared too and as they ate they talked about Draco's friends and how not every Slytherin was looking forward to the Dark Mark by the time they were tired enough to clock out it was well into five in the morning and it didn't even matter that it was only one bed, they laid down together and when Draco thought Harry was asleep he whispered.

"I don't know if you know, but I've always loved you. One way or another."

And Harry had smiled from his side of the bed before whispering back.

"I love you too."

But Draco had been on the edge of sleep and the words were too nice to be reality.

* * *

A/N: Okay maybe I lied, I wasn't completely happy with that end, but you know what Blah to you. I wish you guys would comment, seriously, I work hard and long for these chapters lol anyways, I hope all of you who've read this are liking it, I wrote it in the middle of the night. Review and I'll actually be making this multi-chaptered now, how ever long this goes on that is.


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